Play Baba Bantoo highlights exploitation of saint

Chandigarh, October 10

Collegiate Drama Society New Delhi staged a play ‘Baba Bantoo’ on the third day of the ongoing festival of Punjabi plays, being organised by Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi, at Tagore Theatre, here today.

Written by Dr CD Sidhu, the play inspired by the legend of Googa Peer revolves around the life of a saintly person named Baba Bantoo. Baba is an introvert and pious priest at the mazaar of Googa Peer in a village. By virtue of his sincere devotion baba had the divine blessings to save life of any patient with a snake bite free of any fee and thus the benevolent yet poor baba is under debt of the village landlord.

Unfortunately, the village landlord indulged in harassing poor baba, exploiting his daughter and killing his son, which transforms the noble baba to a strong-headed brave person to avenge on him. Baba manages the to get the landlord bitten by a poisonous snake and later, gets himself bitten by the same snake for the reason that he had decided not to cure the landlord and as such was guilty of not living up to his tradition to save the snake-bite victim.

Actors, especially director Ravi Taneja, cast a spell on the audience while ritual and folk music renditions by Veena Sidhu Taneja augmented the performance level. — OC